Generally, there are known advantages for using an offset shift lever assembly arrangement that fastens to a transmission shift stub extending into a vehicle interior compartment. One primary advantage is being able to easily remove the shift lever assembly from the transmission by simply unfastening the shift lever assembly from the transmission shift stub. This and other advantages are described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,627, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Automotive vehicles of today are being continually refined to improve several areas of performance, such as noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) that would be potentially perceived by a vehicle occupant. These refinements include, among other things, improvements to existing isolation arrangements for a vehicle powertrain, such as improvements to transmission shift lever isolators. Vibrations from powertrain components, such as an engine or a driveline, can be potentially transmitted through a transmission to a shift lever via the transmission shift stub. These transmitted vibrations may result in a visible shaking motion of the transmission shift lever that would be apparent to a vehicle occupant.
Thus, while known transmission shift lever assemblies and known isolator arrangements work for their intended purpose, there is still a need for an improved offset transmission shift lever isolation arrangement capable of further reducing the potential for vibrations to be transmitted from the powertrain to the shift lever.